Univel Inc, the Novell Inc-Unix System Laboratories Inc joint venture on the Destiny desktop Unix, is picking up the charter for recruiting the all-important software for the soon-to-debut desktop operating system from Unix Labs and this week will announce an early access programme that will get binary code into independent software developers’ hands immediately. Univel […]

Univel Inc, the Novell Inc-Unix System Laboratories Inc joint venture on the Destiny desktop Unix, is picking up the charter for recruiting the all-important software for the soon-to-debut desktop operating system from Unix Labs and this week will announce an early access programme that will get binary code into independent software developers’ hands immediately. Univel is said to have already lined up at least 70-plus companies to do Destiny implementations, including WordPerfect Corp, Oracle Corp, Borland International Inc, Gupta Technologies Inc, Lotus Development Corp, 3Com Corp, Ingres Corp, Hyperdesk Inc, Sybase Inc, Informix Software Inc, Frame Technology Inc, Applix Inc and Island Graphics Inc. At press time, it was said to be still finalising international agreements. The software will be available in a month or six weeks to all independent software vendors. Pricing will be decided then. Univel’s version of Destiny, with its hooks to Novell’s NetWare, will be officially christened UnixWare this week. It should ship in September or October. Software vendors will get complete NetWare, System V.4.2 and Motif application programming interfaces with access to Open Look via the Moolit toolkit along with Posix, X/Open Co Ltd Portability Guide 3 and FIPS 151 compliance needed for federal contracts. Intel Corp is expected to bless the project with its endorsement, fittingly since it re-enforces its position in the marketplace. Unix Labs and Univel have apparently been working under non-disclosure with Intel to ensure the kernel wrings specific new performance possibilities from Intel’s forthcoming P% 80586 chip. Similarly, the trio combined to ensure the software worked suitably on existing Intel systems. Univel believes that converting to Destiny will be trivial for Unix companies who will be merely testing shipping product. Univel will ensure their programmes are integrated into Destiny’s Mac-like desktop metaphor and that appropriate icons are provided. Univel is also tipped to bring a bevvy of endorsements from peripheral manufacturers.